


Untouchable

by h311agay



Series: Reunion and Untouchable [2]
Category: IT (1990), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, Death, M/M, Overcoming Grief, Overcoming Loss, loss of a loved one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23438860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h311agay/pseuds/h311agay
Summary: While writing this, I listened to Untouchable Pt. 1 and 2 by Anathema, and I suggest you may want to listen to those songs while you read.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: Reunion and Untouchable [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686163
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Untouchable

**Author's Note:**

> While writing this, I listened to Untouchable Pt. 1 and 2 by Anathema, and I suggest you may want to listen to those songs while you read.

He had tried to drag him out. He wasn’t that heavy; he could do it. He begged, he pleaded. Bill had to tear him from Eddie’s body, telling him it wasn’t possible. Too many of them were hurt. But Eddie was just hurt, Richie could do it; he could, he knew he could. God, please, let him get Eddie out of these sewers, he sobbed.

But they pulled him away from Eddie, and all he could see when he closed his eyes was the darkness enveloping Eddie. So small and alone and Richie knew he could have dragged him out of there and he didn’t know why they wouldn’t let him, he could have done it, God, he could have done it. 

He was laying in the hotel bed, practically catonic. Every time he thought the tears had stopped, he found more falling. His bed smelt like Eddie, so clean and fresh, soapy. Beverly was in there with him, rubbing his back, but he could barely feel her touch over the way his body shook when the sobs came back. Everything hurt, oh god, he hurt so much. Years and years worth of pining and longing and yearning, even when he could barely remember the other’s face. Finally, finally he had Eddie Kaspbrak. He was going to come home with him, he had told him.

_ “Richie,” Eddie said softly, the morning after. “I promised we’d talk about it, so let’s talk about it.” _

_ Richie had been halfway through putting his leg into his pants and was caught off guard, teetering some before sitting on the bed. “Okay. I want you to come back to California with me. I’ve been in love with you since we were teenagers, and I thought maybe it had changed, but last night just proved to me there really isn’t someone else out there for me. It’s you.” _

_ Eddie swallowed hard, a couple of times, before responding, “Richie,” he said, voice cracking. He cleared his throat, and shifted. “Y- you actually… are in love with me? Me?” _

_ “Well, yeah. You’ve always been one of my best friends, Eddie,” he said softly, touching Eddie’s hand. “There’s always been love there for you. When we were in high school, I just tried to put it off as me being a horny teenager, as one typically is. I think I realised it was actually me being in love with you when you left for college.” His lip quivered slightly and he blinked away tears at the pain of the memory. “I cried. I was honestly depressed for a couple of months before I got my acceptance letter out in Washington. Even then, it was rough to just… bring myself to try and date people. And I guess as time went on, and we were away from Derry - you experienced it, too right? The forgetting everyone and what happened?” _

_ Eddie nodded, face red. “Y-yeah,” he squeaked out. _

_ “I just… forgot. But nothing ever felt right, if that makes sense? There was always this… longing for something else. Someone else. And when I saw you last night, I knew it was you. It’s always been you.” _

_ Eddie was crying quietly, having brought his other hand up to cover his face. _

_ “Hey, it’s okay, Eds,” Richie said, scooting closer on the bed and reaching up to wipe away a tear. _

_ “I always loved you, too,” Eddie said before breaking into a small sob. “But all the death threats and I d-didn’t want you to be a t-target, too.” _

_ “I already was,” he said, pulling Eddie closer and trying to soothe him. “And not because I was friends with you.” _

_ “I was just s-so scared, Richie. I just wanted to g-get away from here.” _

_ “I know, I know.” Richie kissed the top of his head, and let Eddie cry into his chest. _

_ Eddie eventually collected himself, sniffing and laughing nervously. “Christ, Richie, I’m a disaster. I’m sorry.” _

_ “Don’t apologise, Eds. We’re all disasters here.” _

_ He wiped his eyes and laughed again, “I guess you’re right.” _

_ There was a long pause before Eddie sighed, hugging himself. Richie’s heart did backflips in his chest. _

_ “I’ll move to California under one condition,” Eddie said. _

_ “Which is?” Richie asked, leaning forward in excitement, ready to fullfil  _ any _ obligation Eddie had for him. _

_ “We both make it out of here alive.” _

_ “Can do,” he said, grabbing Eddie’s face and kissing him messily. “Get ready, baby, you’re going to California.” _

  
  


Beverly had left a few hours ago, leaving Richie to his grief. He felt hollow and achy, like his bones were throbbing. He just felt empty, as he thought of Eddie laying there in the cold sewers. Alone.

He couldn’t leave without Eddie. He could never leave Derry again if it wasn’t with Eddie. He had to get Eddie out of there. He couldn’t leave him in there, alone, in the cold and dark. He sat up from the bed, and looked at the blood on his hands. Eddie’s blood.

He was gone, gone forever. He had just barely gotten a taste of what life with Eddie could be like. To finally have the one person he had spent his whole life longing for. His chest felt tight again, and the tears were falling. He folded in on himself, crying out in agony again as the pain of his loss crashed over him like a wave. Drowning him in its depths and sorrow.

The morning came, and Richie was sliding into his coat when someone knocked on his door. With a haggard expression, he opened it to find Beverly. “Do you need a ride to the airport?”

“I’m not going to the airport,” he said gruffly, stepping away from his door and gathering up the rest of his stuff.

“What do you mean?”

He looked at her, and he hoped, with all of his heart, that she could see he had no other option. “I’m not leaving Derry without Eddie.”

“Richie,” she said, voice breaking some. “Richie, Eddie is gone and --”

“I am  _ not _ leaving without Eddie,” he said again, firmer, angrier. “And if that means I’m stuck here in Derry for the rest of my life, then so fucking be it, because I refuse to go back to my life out there and j-just -- just  _ forget _ him.” His voice cracked and tears began to fall but he kept himself composed enough to angrily wipe them away. “If you all want to live, then  _ fine _ . But you can’t make me leave him. I refuse.”

“Richie, you’re going to get yourself killed in there.”

“Then so fucking be it,” he spat at her. “I could’ve pulled him out, you all  _ know _ I could have carried him out of there! He doesn’t deserve to be in there! He deserves better than anything this shithole of a town has ever given him and I  _ refuse _ to leave him down there. I would rather  _ die _ .” He slammed his suitcase shut after grabbing his wallet from it. “And you can tell that Bill Denbrough fucker that if I don’t get Eddie out of there, I will haunt every goddamn one of his dreams until he blows his brains out.”

“Richie! Don’t say that. It’s stuff like that that IT wants.”

“IT is  _ dead _ ,” he said. “Just like Stan and just like Eddie. I am pulling him out of there and that is  _ that _ ,” he said. “Now let me by, I have to go pay for extra days.” She tried to call after him, but Richie ignored her. After paying for a few extra days, he headed out. He hit up a hardware store for a head lamp and some ropes. 

He got odd stares all day, and he was sure he looked like a crazed man, and perhaps he was, but Eddie was down there, and the longer he waited, the less likely he was to ever find him. He had to act fast, before whatever magic had been a part of IT disappeared forever, and took Eddie with it.

He arrived at the sewer entrance and was surprised to see Beverly and Ben waiting there for him. He looked at them cautiously but continued forward. Ben stepped out to greet him and Richie stopped in his tracks, “If you’re here to try and stop me, don’t bother. I made up my mind.”

“No,” he said. “I’m here to help you. There’s a better chance with the three of us than just you,” he said. “You were right, you could have carried him out of there last night. There was no reason to leave him behind. It’s the absolute least we can do for our friend who gave his life to save us.”

They walked through the darkness with just their headlamps to guide the way. Ben had brought along a set for him and Beverely, as well as flashlights for all three of them, but those were strapped to their sides, emergency use only. Ben led them through the tunnels, until they came out to the cavern where the final battle with IT took place. Richie felt himself get dizzy as he approached the spot where Eddie’s body laid the night before. He felt so afraid that he would approach the spot and Eddie would be gone, vanished into nothingness like IT had done. He let out his breath when he saw Eddie’s body was still there, crumpled and small. He heard Ben and Beverly both take in sharp exhales at the sight of Eddie, but right now, all Richie felt was an eerie calm. He was going to get Eddie out of here.

He knelt to pick Eddie up, and the stench of fresh death clogged his nostrils, and it took a lot of strength to not gag; somehow, he managed. 

With the help of Beverly and Ben, Richie was able to get Eddie out of the sewers. They breached the mouth of the entrance and Richie stood there, looking down at the man in his arms.

“What are you going to do with him now?” Ben asked. 

“I’m going to contact a funeral and get him cremated. I’m taking him back to California with me.”

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll forget him?” Bev asked.

“No. I don’t think I’ll forget him this time,” he said softly.

Richie stepped under the shower’s running water, his first real shower since returning to California. In fact, the first shower he had taken since the whole ordeal back in Derry. He watched the muddy and bloody water swirl down the drain. The light of the bathroom caught on the necklace he was wearing. It had a piece of resin with Eddie’s ashes in it, and inside the locket itself was a picture of Eddie. On the back was an inscription:  _ Edward Kaspbrak. Love of my life. _

He held the locket for a moment, letting the grief wash over him.

He had promised to take Eddie to California and give him a new start, a new life. He would keep that promise, and for as long as he was alive, he would live for Eddie.


End file.
